Silly Symphony

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1935 series poster


Silly Symphony is a series of 75 animated short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As their name implies, the Silly Symphonies were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces of music. As such, the films usually had independent continuity and did not feature continuing characters, unlike the Mickey Mouse shorts produced by Disney at the same time (exceptions to this include Three Little Pigs, The Tortoise and the Hare, and Three Orphan Kittens, which all had sequels). The series is notable for its innovation with Technicolor and the multiplane motion picture camera, as well as its introduction of the character Donald Duck making his first appearance in the Silly Symphony cartoon The Wise Little Hen in 1934. Seven shorts won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.


The series also spawned a Disney media franchise that included the Silly Symphonies newspaper comic strip distributed by King Features Syndicate, the Dell comic book series Silly Symphonies, as well as several children's books, many of which were based on Silly Symphony cartoons.




Contents





  • 1 Production


  • 2 Distribution

    • 2.1 Columbia Pictures


    • 2.2 United Artists


    • 2.3 Home media



  • 3 List of films


  • 4 Reception


  • 5 Legacy


  • 6 See also


  • 7 References


  • 8 Further reading


  • 9 External links




Production


Within the animation industry, the series is most noted for its use by Walt Disney as a platform for experimenting with processes, techniques, characters, and stories in order to further the art of animation. It also provided a venue to try out techniques and technologies, such as Technicolor, special effects animation, and dramatic storytelling in animation, that would be crucial to Disney's plans to eventually begin making feature-length animated films.


Shortly after the switch to United Artists, the series became even more popular. Walt Disney had seen some of Dr. Herbert Kalmus' tests for a new three-strip, full-color Technicolor process, which would replace the previous, two-tone Technicolor process. Disney signed a contract with Technicolor which gave the Disney studio exclusive rights to the new three-strip process through the end of 1935, and had a 60% complete Symphony, Flowers and Trees, scrapped and redone in full color. Flowers and Trees was the first animated film to use the three-strip Technicolor process,[1] and was a phenomenal success. Within a year, the now-in-Technicolor Silly Symphonies series had popularity and success that matched (and later surpassed) that of the Mickey Mouse cartoons. The contract Disney had with Technicolor would also later be extended another five years as well.[2] The shorts began to have stronger plots too,[3] and the success of Silly Symphonies would be tremendously boosted after Three Little Pigs was released in 1933 and became a box office sensation; the film was featured in movie theaters for several months and also featured the hit song that became the anthem of the Great Depression, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf".[4] Several Silly Symphonies entries, including Three Little Pigs (1933), The Grasshopper and the Ants (1934), The Tortoise and the Hare (1935), The Country Cousin (1936), The Old Mill (1937), Wynken, Blynken, and Nod (1938), and The Ugly Duckling (1939, with an earlier black-and-white version from 1931), are among the most notable films produced by Walt Disney. Due to problems related to Disney's scheduled productions of cartoons, a deal was made with Harman and Ising to produce three Silly Symphonies; Merbabies, Pipe Dreams, and The Little Bantamweight. Only one of these cartoons, Merbabies, ended up being bought by Disney, the remaining two Harman-Ising Silly Symphonies were then sold to MGM who released them as Happy Harmonies cartoons.[5] Disney ceased production of Silly Symphonies in 1939.[6]



Distribution


The series was first distributed by Pat Powers from 1929 to 1930 and released by Celebrity Productions (1929–1930) indirectly through Columbia Pictures. The original basis of the cartoons was musical novelty, and the musical scores of the first cartoons were composed by Carl Stalling.[7]



Columbia Pictures


After viewing "The Skeleton Dance", the manager at Columbia Pictures quickly became interested in distributing the series, and gained the perfect opportunity to acquire Silly Symphonies after Disney broke with Celebrity Productions head Pat Powers after Powers signed Disney's colleague Ub Iwerks to a studio contract. Columbia Pictures (1930–1932) agreed to pick up the direct distribution of the Mickey Mouse series on the condition that they would have exclusive rights to distribute the Silly Symphonies series; at first, Silly Symphonies could not even come close to the popularity Mickey Mouse had. The original title cards to the shorts released by Celebrity Productions and Columbia Pictures were all redrawn after Walt Disney stopped distributing his cartoons through them. Meanwhile, more competition spread for Disney after Max Fleischer's flapper cartoon character Betty Boop began to gain more and more popularity after starring in the cartoon Minnie the Moocher; by August 1932, Betty Boop even became so popular, that the Talkartoon series was renamed as Betty Boop cartoons.



United Artists


In 1932, after falling out with Columbia Pictures, Disney began distributing his products through United Artists. UA refused to distribute the Silly Symphonies unless Disney associated Mickey Mouse with them somehow, resulting in the "Mickey Mouse presents a Silly Symphony" title cards and posters that introduced and promoted the series during its five-year run for UA. United Artists also agreed to double the budget for each cartoon from 7,500 dollars to 15,000 dollars.[8]



Home media


Several Symphonies have been released in home media. For instance, the original Dumbo VHS included Father Noah's Ark, The Practical Pig and Three Orphan Kittens as bonus shorts to make up for the film's short length. In the UK, several Symphonies were released in compilations under Walt Disney Home Video's "Storybook Favourites" brand. The three volumes released included among others, Three Little Pigs, The Tortoise and the Hare and the remake of The Ugly Duckling. Most home media releases of various Disney films also include Symphonies as bonus shorts.


On December 3, 2001 - two days before the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth - Disney released "Silly Symphonies" as part of its DVD series "Walt Disney Treasures". On december 19, 2006, "More Silly Symphonies" was released, completing the collection and allowing the cartoons to be completely available to the public.



List of films


The Silly Symphonies are listed here in production order.






















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































#
Film
Original release date
Director
Music
Notes
Running time (minutes)
1

The Skeleton Dance

August 22, 1929

Walt Disney

Carl Stalling

  • First entry in the Silly Symphony series.

  • The soundtrack was recorded in February 1929 in New York.

5:31
2

El Terrible Toreador

September 26, 1929

Walt Disney

Carl Stalling

  • The first Silly Symphony to have its soundtrack recorded in Los Angeles.
6:14
3

Springtime

October 24, 1929

Ub Iwerks

Carl Stalling

  • Scenes from this film appeared in the 1961 film One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
6:14



4

Hell's Bells

November 21, 1929

Ub Iwerks

Carl Stalling

5:49
5

The Merry Dwarfs

December 19, 1929

Walt Disney

Carl Stalling

5:57
6

Summer

January 16, 1930

Ub Iwerks

Carl Stalling

5:51
7

Autumn

February 15, 1930

Ub Iwerks

Carl Stalling

  • The last Silly Symphony to be completed before Ub Iwerks and Carl Stalling left the studio. Their sudden departures caused delays in production.
6:24
8

Cannibal Capers

March 20, 1930

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis

  • Production on this and several other Silly Symphonies were delayed due to the sudden departures of Ub Iwerks and Carl Stalling.
5:56
9

Night

July 31, 1930

Walt Disney

Bert Lewis

  • Originally released with blue tinting.[9]

  • Due to production delays, this film was postponed from its original announced release date of April 10th.

6:53
10

Frolicking Fish

June 21, 1930

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis

  • Originally released with green tinting.[9]

  • It was on this film that animator Norm Ferguson discovered the "follow-thru" animation technique that allowed for characters to move more naturally.

  • Due to production delays, this film was postponed from its original announced release date of May 8th.

6:02
11

Arctic Antics

June 27, 1930

Ub Iwerks(Possibly), Burt Gillett(Possibly)}}

Bert Lewis

  • The animators' draft lists Ub Iwerks as the director, even though he left the studio before animation began.

  • Due to production delays, this film was postponed from its original announced release date of June 5th.

7:00
12

Midnight in a Toy Shop

August 16, 1930

Wilfred Jackson

Bert Lewis

  • Due to production delays, this film was postponed from its original announced release date of July 3rd.
7:34
13

Monkey Melodies

September 26, 1930

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis

  • Due to production delays, this film was postponed from its original announced release date of August 10th.
7:00
14

Winter

October 30, 1930

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis


15

Playful Pan

December 27, 1930

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis


16

Birds of a Feather

February 3, 1931

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis


17

Mother Goose Melodies

April 16, 1931

Burt Gillett



18

The China Plate

May 23, 1931

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill


19

The Busy Beavers

June 30, 1931

Burt Gillett

Frank Churchill


20

The Cat's Nightmare

July 28, 1931

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill

  • The film's working title was The Cat's Out, and the current vault print features that title in its credits. However, it was copyrighted and released as The Cat's Nightmare.

21

Egyptian Melodies

August 27, 1931

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill


22

The Clock Store

September 28, 1931

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill


23

The Spider and the Fly

October 23, 1931

Wilfred Jackson



24

The Fox Hunt

November 20, 1931

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill


25

The Ugly Duckling

December 17, 1931

Wilfred Jackson



26

The Bird Store

January 16, 1932

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill

  • The last Silly Symphony to be distributed by Columbia Pictures.

27

The Bears and the Bees

July 15, 1932

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill

  • The first Silly Symphony to be distributed by United Artists.

28

Just Dogs

August 12, 1932

Wilfred Jackson

Bert Lewis

  • The first appearance of Pluto without Mickey Mouse.

29

Flowers and Trees

July 30, 1932

Burt Gillett


  • Winner of the inaugural Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

  • The first film to be produced in three-strip Technicolor.


30

Bugs in Love

October 1, 1932

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis

  • The last Silly Symphony to be produced in black-and-white.

31

King Neptune

October 7, 1932

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis


32

Babes in the Woods

November 19, 1932

Burt Gillett

Bert Lewis

  • The last Silly Symphony to be recorded with Cinephone.

33

Santa's Workshop

December 10, 1932

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill

  • The first Silly Symphony to be recorded with RCA Photophone.

34

Birds in the Spring

March 13, 1933

David Hand

Bert Lewis
Frank Churchill


35

Father Noah's Ark

April 8, 1933

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


36

Three Little Pigs

May 27, 1933

Burt Gillett

Frank Churchill

  • Winner of the 1932-33 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

  • From this film came the Disney studio's first hit song, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?".


37

Old King Cole

July 29, 1933

David Hand

Frank Churchill
Bert Lewis


38

Lullaby Land

August 19, 1933

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill
Leigh Harline


39

The Pied Piper

September 16, 1933

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


40

The Night Before Christmas

December 9, 1933

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline

  • Was originally supposed to be released after The China Shop, but production was moved ahead in order to have it ready for a Christmastime release. As a result, both films were given each other's production numbers.

41

The China Shop

January 13, 1934

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


42

The Grasshopper and the Ants

February 10, 1934

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline

  • The song featured in the film, "The World Owes Me a Living", would become a recurring theme for Goofy. Coincidentally, Pinto Colvig, the voice of Goofy, also voiced the Grasshopper in this film.

43

Funny Little Bunnies

March 24, 1934

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill
Leigh harline


  • Was originally supposed to be released after The Big Bad Wolf, but production was moved ahead in order to have it ready for a Easter release. As a result, both films were given each other's production numbers.

44

The Big Bad Wolf

April 14, 1934

Burt Gillett

Frank Churchill


45

The Wise Little Hen

June 9, 1934

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline

  • The debut appearance of Donald Duck.

  • Was originally supposed to be released after The Flying Mouse, but production was moved ahead for reasons unknown. As a result, both films were given each other's production numbers.


46

The Flying Mouse

July 14, 1934

David Hand

Frank Churchill
Bert Lewis


47

Peculiar Penguins

September 1, 1934

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


48

The Goddess of Spring

November 3, 1934

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


49

The Tortoise and the Hare

January 5, 1935

Wilfred Jackson

Frank Churchill

  • Winner of the 1933-34 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

50

The Golden Touch

March 22, 1935

Walt Disney

Frank Churchill


51

The Robber Kitten

April 20, 1935

David Hand

Frank Churchill


52

Water Babies

May 11, 1935

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


53

The Cookie Carnival

May 25, 1935

Ben Sharpsteen

Leigh Harline


54

Who Killed Cock Robin?

June 29, 1935

David Hand

Frank Churchill

  • Nominated for the 1935 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

  • Named one of the ten best films of 1935 by the National Board of Review.

  • Scenes from this film appeared in the 1936 film Sabotage.


55

Music Land

October 5, 1935

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


56

Three Orphan Kittens

October 26, 1935

David Hand

Frank Churchill

  • Winner of the 1935 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

57

Cock o' the Walk

November 30, 1935

Ben Sharpsteen

Frank Churchill
Alfred Hay Malotte


58

Broken Toys

December 14, 1935

Ben Sharpsteen

Alfred Hay Malotte

  • Was originally intended to follow Elmer Elephant and Three Little Wolves, but production moved ahead to have the film ready for a Christmastime release. As a result, this and the latter film switched production numbers.

59

Elmer Elephant

March 28, 1936

Wilferd Jackson

Leigh Harline


60

Three Little Wolves

April 18, 1936

David Hand

Frank Churchill


61

Toby Tortoise Returns

August 22, 1936

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


62

Three Blind Mouseketeers

September 26, 1936

David Hand

Alfred Hay Malotte


63

The Country Cousin

October 31, 1936

David Hand
Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline

  • Winner of the 1936 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

64

Mother Pluto

November 14, 1936

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline

  • Originally designated part of the Mickey Mouse series, it was reclassified as a Silly Symphony just before release, taking its original production number going to Don Donald.

65

More Kittens

December 19, 1936

David Hand

Frank Churchill

  • The film's production number was originally assigned to the Donald Duck short Don Donald.

66

Woodland Café

March 13, 1937

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline


67

Little Hiawatha

May 15, 1937

David Hand

Alfred Hay Malotte

  • The last Silly Symphony to be distributed by United Artists.

68

The Old Mill

November 5, 1937

Wilfred Jackson

Leigh Harline

  • The first Silly Symphony to be distributed by RKO Radio Pictures.

  • Winner of the 1937 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.


69

Wynken, Blynken and Nod

May 27, 1938

Graham Heid

Leigh Harline


70

Moth and the Flame

April 1, 1938

David Hand
Burt Gillett
Dick Heumer

Alfred Hay Malotte


71

Merbabies

December 9, 1938

Rudolf Ising, Vernon Stallings

Scott Bradley

  • Production was outsourced to the Harman-Ising Studio, as part of a agreement that included the studio loaning some of its artists to Disney's to help complete Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

72

Farmyard Symphony

October 14, 1938

Jack Cutting

Leigh Harline


73

Mother Goose Goes Hollywood

December 23, 1938

Wilfred Jackson

Edward Plumb

  • Nominated for the 1938 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

  • The most expensive Silly Symphony produced, its negative cost totaling $69,307.87.


74

The Practical Pig

February 24, 1939

Duck Rickard

Frank Churchill
Paul Smith

  • The Silly Symphony name doesn't appear on the opening titles, and is instead labeled a Three Little Pigs cartoon.

75

The Ugly Duckling

April 7, 1939

Jack Cutting
Hamilton Luske

Alfred Hay Malotte

  • Winner of the 1939 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

  • Final entry in the Silly Symphony series, though it is labeled as a one-shot cartoon instead.



Reception


Disney's experiments were widely praised within the film industry, and the Silly Symphonies won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film seven times, maintaining a six-year-hold on the category after it was first introduced. This record was matched only by MGM's Tom and Jerry series during the 1940s and 1950s.



Legacy


Silly Symphonies brought along many imitators, including Warner Bros. cartoon series Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, MGM's Happy Harmonies, and later, Universal's Swing Symphony. The television series Mickey Mouse Works used the Silly Symphonies title for some of its new cartoons, but unlike the original cartoons, these did feature continuing characters. Disney also produced comic strips and comic books with this title.


The Symphonies also changed the course of Disney Studio history when Walt's plans to direct his first feature cartoon became problematic after his warm-up to the task The Golden Touch was widely seen (even by Disney himself) as stiff and slowly paced. This motivated him to embrace his role as being the producer and providing creative oversight (especially of the story) for Snow White while tasking David Hand to handle the actual directing.[10]


Years later after the Silly Symphonies ended, Disney occasionally produced a handful of one-shot cartoons, playing the same style as the Silly Symphony series. Unlike the Silly Symphonies canon, most of these "Specials" have a narration, usually by Disney legend Sterling Holloway.



See also




  • Golden age of American animation


  • List of Disney animated shorts
    • Alice Comedies

    • Oswald Comedies

    • Mickey Mouse

    • Donald Duck


  • Other animated shorts series
    • Cartune Classics

    • Looney Tunes

    • Merrie Melodies

    • ComiColor Cartoons

    • Color Classics

    • Color Rhapsodies

    • Happy Harmonies

    • Noveltoons

    • Rainbow Parade

    • Swing Symphony



  • Silly Symphonies the newspaper comic strip, featuring adaptations of the animated shorts. Collected in IDW Publishing's and The Library of American Comics's book series, Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics


References




  1. ^ Robertson, Patrick (2011). Robertson's Book of Firsts. London: Bloomsbury. Retrieved 24 May 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em


  2. ^ "Glorious Technicolor 1932-1955". Widescreenmuseum.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.


  3. ^ "The Birth of the ''Silly Symphonies''". Disney.go.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.


  4. ^ Three Little Pigs at the Disney archives


  5. ^ "Who's Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television's Award-Winning and Legendary Animators". Books.google.no. Retrieved 2018-03-14.


  6. ^ "''Silly Symphonies'' at". Toonopedia.com. 1929-05-10. Retrieved 2018-03-14.


  7. ^ "The Birth of the ''Silly Symphonies'', by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman". Disney.go.com. Retrieved 2018-03-14.


  8. ^ Mosley, Leonard (1990). Disney's World. Scarborough House. p. 135. Retrieved 9 December 2017.


  9. ^ ab Layton, James; Pierce, Davis (February 24, 2015). The Dawn of Technicolor 1915–1935. Rochester, New York: George Eastman Museum. p. 269. ISBN 978-0-935398-28-1.


  10. ^ Walt Disney: The Animated Man by Michael Barrier




Further reading


  • Maltin, Leonard: The Disney Films. (Fourth edition.) New York: Disney Editions, 2000.
    ISBN 0-7868-8527-0.

  • Merritt, Russel – Kaufman, J. B.: Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoons Series. Gemona: La Cinecita del Friuli, 2006.
    ISBN 88-86155-27-1.


External links



  • Silly Symphonies at The Big Cartoon Database


  • Silly Symphonies at Toonopedia


  • Silly Symphonies at The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts


  • Silly Symphony at the INDUCKS







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